Versailles' 1792 Founding and a Century of Building After It
Versailles was founded on June 23, 1792, on land owned by young Hezekiah Briscoe, whose guardian Marquis Calmes named the town after Versailles, France, in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette; the town was incorporated on February 13, 1837, and has been the seat of Woodford County since the county's formation in 1788. Construction downtown followed steadily over the decades between those dates and the horse-farm boom that came later, leaving a mix of older wood siding, trim, and masonry alongside newer building methods.
From Founding-Era Brick to Modern Siding
The horse farms that now surround Versailles are laced with stone walls and plank fences built from the same limestone-rich ground that shapes the town's soil and drainage, and homes closer to that older Woodford County core tend to carry siding and trim that has weathered longer than anything on newer in-town lots.
Project Paths
A Siding Plan for Versailles' Older and Newer Construction
A siding evaluation in Versailles should weigh how long a wall assembly has been exposed to the region's weather -- older sheathing near the historic core often needs closer inspection at flashing points and trim than more recent construction.